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Debugging of Class-D Audio Power Amplifiers

Determining and optimizing the performance of a Class-D audio power amplifier can be very difficult without knowledge of the use of audio performance measuring equipment and of how the various noise and distortion sources influence the audio performance. This paper gives an introduction on how to measure the performance of the amplifier and how to find the noise and distortion sources and suggests ways to remove them. Throughout the paper measurements of a test amplifier are presented along with the relevant theory.